Express lanes can charge tolls on interstates

Q: I remember during the Eisenhower administration, federal tax dollars were appropriated for the construction of Interstate 95 and other interstate highways. A big hullabaloo was reported in the newspapers about the statement that no state would receive funds to build the highway if tolls were charged Am I mistaken? If this is fact, who changed it? And how can tolls be allowed on Interstate 95 between Miami and Fort Lauderdale? Robert Katz, Boynton Beach

A: The concept of an interstate system was first described in a 1939 report to Congress called "Toll Roads and Free Roads," prepared by what was then the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads. The report rejected toll roads Congress had suggested because it said revenues wouldn't pay for the bonds issued for construction.

Fast forward to 2005, when Congress removed several legal barriers to charging tolls on interstates.

Under federal law, regular highway lanes cannot be converted to toll lanes. States have gotten around that by converting underutilized, carpool lanes into express toll lanes.

Q: What's going on where West Broward Boulevard passes under Florida's Turnpike in Plantation. There is a lot of digging.Cynthia Harnist, Plantation

A: The southbound turnpike is being widened from Atlantic Boulevard to Griffin Road, including the bridge over Broward Boulevard.

Q: I live in Deerfield Beach right off the Sawgrass Expressway which is under construction. Are they building a westbound Southwest 10th Street ramp to the turnpike?Alvero Capada, Deerfield Beach

A: No. The turnpike is converting the Sawgrass' Deerfield toll plaza to open road tolling, with barrier-free SunPass lanes. Last year, the Florida Department of Transportation took a very brief look at the feasibility of building a full interchange linking Southwest 10th Street and the turnpike as part of extending the Sawgrass east to I-95.

But Broward County's Metropolitan Planning Organization, which prioritizes which road projects get built, hasn't shown any interest in building the Sawgrass' missing link.

Unless Southwest 10th Street is improved to expressway standards, the turnpike is reluctant to build ramps that would dump even more traffic onto a street that's already suffering from congestion at intersections with Military Trail and Powerline Road.